Taking your game to the next level

Hey,

I don't want to sound cocky, but I know I'm a good golfer. But I want to become a great golfer. I can comfortably shoot handicap on an average day, but I can't seem to drop those shots off my handicap. I have slight swing changes that I'm working on, but it's so infuriating when I go out and shoot 5 over when I've really not applied the changes I'm working on. Do you know what I mean? I feel as if I could be off 1 and not need to worry about not having enough shots. I want to take the next step. To go from a county player to region player. How should I go around this? Any scratch golfers on here? How did you get down? I know I can do it and I don't want to sound like an arrogant kid. So sorry if you find this at all arrogant.
Cheers

Honestly? Read between the lines here; I know the answer but I'm not going to tell you.

PM me if you'd like an explanation.

 
I'd recommend continued practice and deeper thought into course management. My number one tip though would be patience.

I spent 2-3 years hovering between 5 and 6. I knew I was ready to go lower, but it just wouldn't happen. It was frustrating and disappointing. Keep believing how good you are and focussing on where you want to go. But don't get in your own way.

Relax and accept that it might not happen tomorrow, but that it will come.

As i say, i was in a similar boat this time last year. By implementing what i've recommended to you here i dropped from 5.1 to 1.6 in 2010 - and lost 3.8 from August onwards.

Hopefully a bit of inspiration for you!!
 
Hey,

I don't want to sound cocky, but I know I'm a good golfer. But I want to become a great golfer. I can comfortably shoot handicap on an average day, but I can't seem to drop those shots off my handicap. I have slight swing changes that I'm working on, but it's so infuriating when I go out and shoot 5 over when I've really not applied the changes I'm working on. Do you know what I mean? I feel as if I could be off 1 and not need to worry about not having enough shots. I want to take the next step. To go from a county player to region player. How should I go around this? Any scratch golfers on here? How did you get down? I know I can do it and I don't want to sound like an arrogant kid. So sorry if you find this at all arrogant.
Cheers

Honestly? Read between the lines here; I know the answer but I'm not going to tell you.

That's all well and good, but I don't think they make them in this country anymore :D
 
It might sound silly - especially coming from someone as bad as I am - but have you considered analysing your rounds in a lot more detail and looking at the data? You've already said that it's difficult to suss out where to focus your attention, but numbers never lie.

What I do (even though I'm rubbish), is sometimes go out for a round on my own and use the scorecard for plotting the position of each of my shots, club selection for each, distance, # putts, rough deviation, and then I'll do a bit of number crunching at the end to see where I'm falling down.

For me - and this might sound odd to most - my best scoring was always on par 3s and 5s. With the former, it's a short hop and you either nail or kill it. With the latter, you generally have a bit of a better opportunity to get it on the green comfortably without having to stretch yourself and a wayward shot won't be punished too badly. With 4s, a bad iron shot to the green ruins the hole regardless of the other shots.

It also helped me work out patterns to my on-course tactics. I could see that I was trying to play really aggressively when I didn't actually have the ability to back it up, and rather than going for a safer shot and then a chip to the pin followed by a short putt I would try and apply the heroics with a 7 iron over a row of trees - all of which would inevitably blow up in my face and cause me to write the hole off again.

So, for me, playing more conservatively saved me shots. Rather than trying to find the pin at the back I'd play it comfortably to the centre and rely on my putting (which is ok) to get me home safely.

It's only when you crunch the numbers that you can see interesting patterns and can look to see where you can improve. As others have said, it's almost certainly going to be your mid/short game.

You're obviously a lot better than me, but I think the basic principles still apply - don't go for the heroics. It's pretty simple when you think about it. Either you focus on increasing your distance, to scrape a few extra shots on a round if you can, or else there's issues with accuracy to the pin, which would seem to be the area to focus on. As others have said, it's the 100 yards and in area that better players are so deadly in.
 
i`ve been lucky enough to have played off scratch and i think theres little pieces u can take from all the above , but if u ask most of the guys on here and at ur club that play off say 3 and below putting is the key -work on ur putting however boring it is at times thats the difference - if u were to ask `gmac` how he`s moved up another level -he`ll tell his putting has improved this year without a doubt best of luck gcd
 
It might sound silly - especially coming from someone as bad as I am - but have you considered analysing your rounds in a lot more detail and looking at the data? You've already said that it's difficult to suss out where to focus your attention, but numbers never lie.

What I do (even though I'm rubbish), is sometimes go out for a round on my own and use the scorecard for plotting the position of each of my shots, club selection for each, distance, # putts, rough deviation, and then I'll do a bit of number crunching at the end to see where I'm falling down.

For me - and this might sound odd to most - my best scoring was always on par 3s and 5s. With the former, it's a short hop and you either nail or kill it. With the latter, you generally have a bit of a better opportunity to get it on the green comfortably without having to stretch yourself and a wayward shot won't be punished too badly. With 4s, a bad iron shot to the green ruins the hole regardless of the other shots.

It also helped me work out patterns to my on-course tactics. I could see that I was trying to play really aggressively when I didn't actually have the ability to back it up, and rather than going for a safer shot and then a chip to the pin followed by a short putt I would try and apply the heroics with a 7 iron over a row of trees - all of which would inevitably blow up in my face and cause me to write the hole off again.

So, for me, playing more conservatively saved me shots. Rather than trying to find the pin at the back I'd play it comfortably to the centre and rely on my putting (which is ok) to get me home safely.

It's only when you crunch the numbers that you can see interesting patterns and can look to see where you can improve. As others have said, it's almost certainly going to be your mid/short game.

You're obviously a lot better than me, but I think the basic principles still apply - don't go for the heroics. It's pretty simple when you think about it. Either you focus on increasing your distance, to scrape a few extra shots on a round if you can, or else there's issues with accuracy to the pin, which would seem to be the area to focus on. As others have said, it's the 100 yards and in area that better players are so deadly in.

There may be some wisdom in this. Have you thought about getting Scoresaver 2 and analysing your rounds that way. it has the facility to print off the 8 key scoring areas (GIR, FIR, Putts etc) as a report for your pro. It'll give him a clear indication about where you are now and can then be looked at regularly and seeing what patterns emerge.
 
Honestly? Read between the lines here; I know the answer but I'm not going to tell you.

PM me if you'd like an explanation.

Are you not going to share it with the rest of us?

Its a secret. But don't worry, you know it in any case.

Will we all know it, or is it just the chosen few?

I've already said too much. Go to King's Cross Station at midnight; there'll be a brown envelope taped to the underside of the bench next to the prominent water-feature, in it you'll find a key to a numbered locker at the O2 Arena, in the locker you will find all you need to know for stage one. I'll contact you later regarding the remaining 4 stages.
 
Right after reading all the replies and thinking for a few nights, I've come to the decision that progression can't be forced. It can be helped and I will push myself as far as I can in this game, but I shouldn't expect results. However this winter I will firstly implement the swing changes I received the other night at a lesson. I will have regular check ups on my swing but I will focus from 100 yards when I am confident with my long game. Particularly putting. Keep an eye on my signature, I'll make a post when I'm off scratch ;)
 
Thats a big step because it means i can play Mcgregor trophy (england u16's strokeplay), get a place in the county under 18's team and push for selection in the south west u16 boys team. God i need to get down to 4.
 
Right after reading all the replies and thinking for a few nights, I've come to the decision that progression can't be forced. It can be helped and I will push myself as far as I can in this game, but I shouldn't expect results.

I don't like the sound of that.

Your progression comes down to work, dedication, coaching, talent etc. You can "force" that as much as you like or can stomach. If you do all the right things then you should expect results.
Successful people know what they want and go and get it. The belief that you will get there is essential to your success.
 
What i'm saying is that I will try as hard as I can to achieve what I want but i'm not going to get worked up if it doesn't happen straight away. It will come in time.
 
Peaks and troughs. Just don't stop trying. I see loads of kids thinking they are "stuck" at a level, and some of them are, but eventually a breakthrough will come.
At least with Golf you can probably see/know where you are weak and attend to those areas first.
 
For me I would say its all about converting birdie chances. When youre at our level we usually have plenty of birdie chances but the really good rounds to make those cuts are when you convert them.

I guess this would mean getting really solid from 15 feet and in.
 
feary, a young lad playing at my club won the Macgregor Trophy in 08 and defended it in 09. He spends hours working on his pitching, chipping and putting.

He was held back a bit this year by his long game but he puts that down to a growth spurt which is taking him a little time to adjust to.

He was telling me that to compete at national level you have to have a very sharp short game. He reckons there are plenty of good ball strikers but the short game is what makes the difference.

His attitude is first class as well, even though he did not progress as well as he hoped this year, he kept things in perspective and realises that it may take time to go from plus 1 to the plus 3 or 4 he wants to get to before even considering the pro ranks.

If you work hard and have the talent you will make that improvement. Don't try and force things by putting too much pressure on yourself. Go out and enjoy your golf and it will happen!
 
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